Sheffield FC's 1859 football rules on sale

The 1859 laws also contain handwritten notes and changes

A football rule book said to be the first official guide to the modern game has gone up for auction.

Rules, Regulations, and Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club was printed in 1859.

Auctioneer Sotheby's, which estimated the item could fetch between £50,000 to £70,000, said the 16-page booklet was one of only two known copies.

Sheffield FC has launched a bid to buy back the "exceptional piece of sporting history".

Dr Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby's books and manuscripts specialist said the book "takes us straight back to the origins of 'the beautiful game' over 160 years ago.

"It was in Sheffield that football was first revealed as an unrivalled spectator sport, that the experience of interclub competition was first experienced, and that football fans first revealed their loyalty and passion."

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The booklet, owned by club member William Baker, is bound in a Victorian scrapbook of printed letters and cuttings.

A copy was printed and given to every member after the club's committee met to draft the laws of the game in October 1858.

Sheffield Foot-Ball Club was established in 1857, six years before the Football Association was founded. Still going today, Sheffield FC bills itself as the world's first football club.

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Sheffield FC played a crucial role in the development of the modern game and the indirect free kick, the corner and the crossbar were all innovations of the Sheffield game, said Sotheby's.

Ironically, the club previously had to sell its collection of memorabilia to secure its future amid a financial crisis.

It has started an online fundraiser to try and buy the rulebook for a museum at a planned new ground.

The online auction remains open until 20 July.